Africanized Bees

Africanized bees, including those that killed 2-year-old Emanuel Irizarry and attacked four of his relatives last week, have nearly wiped out less-aggressive bee species in Puerto Rico, experts say.The dangers of the Africanized bees - sometimes referred to as ''killer bees'' - were demonstrated when a swarm attacked the family as they went to pick avocados. They did not know a swarm of bees lived in the tree.The boy died about nine hours after the attack by the bees.Modesto Colon, head of the island's bee control program, said four people have died in Puerto Rico from attacks in the last four years.

With the arrival of Memorial Day weekend and a summertime full of travel , cookouts, beach parties, camp-outs and other outdoor activities, it's important to remember that there are critters lurking (indoors as well as out) that bite and sting. Here, from the animal kingdom, are some of Florida's chief vacation buzz kills and how to deal with them: Africanized bees Africanized honeybees, when on the attack, aim for dark colors and carbon dioxide - your mouth, for instance.

Africanized bees, including those that killed a 2-year-old boy this week, have nearly wiped out less aggressive bee species in Puerto Rico, an expert said Friday. A swarm of Africanized bees - often called ''killer bees'' - attacked the boy who had gone with his family to pick avocados Wednesday. Emanuel Irizarry died nine hours later at the Humacao Regional Hospital in southeastern Puerto Rico.

Two dogs died and their owner was injured during a walk Monday morning when they were attacked by a swarm of suspected Africanized bees, according to Martin County Fire Rescue. It appears strong winds knocked down a hive, which was located in a 10-foot-tall hollowed palm tree on a vacant lot, said Gene Lemire, Martin County Mosquito Control manager. The full story can be read at TCPalm.com.

A quick test has been developed to help inspectors in Florida and other states tell the difference between ''killer bees'' and domestic honeybees.The test, developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, relies on a one-minute screening of wing size that makes it easier to distinguish between the nearly identical species of bees.So-called Africanized killer bees have not yet appeared in Florida, but concern has increased in recent months since a colony of the aggressive bees was found and destroyed in California.

As Africanized honeybees move north into the United States, interbreeding with domestic honeybees is occurring and diluting the Africanized bees' undesirable traits, reports Thomas Rinderer, a geneticist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in the journal Science. Africanized bees, released accidentally in Brazil in the 1950s and whose descendants were first detected in the United States in 1990, are more likely to sting and more difficult to manage for crop pollination. Honeybees pollinate $10 billion worth of crops annually in the United States.

Two dogs died and their owner was injured during a walk Monday morning when they were attacked by a swarm of suspected Africanized bees, according to Martin County Fire Rescue. It appears strong winds knocked down a hive, which was located in a 10-foot-tall hollowed palm tree on a vacant lot, said Gene Lemire, Martin County Mosquito Control manager. The full story can be read at TCPalm.com.

A gardener suffered the nation's first recorded attack by Africanized ''killer'' bees but drove himself to a hospital for treatment. Jesus Cenobio Diaz, 35, said he was stung 18 times May 20 when his riding mower disturbed a hive in a narrow culvert pipe. Officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday confirmed that Diaz was stung by ''killer'' bees, called that because of their tendency to launch mass attacks on perceived threats to their colonies. A swarm of Africanized bees was the first trapped in the United States.

Searing heat isn't the only plague of summer. Insect pests also seem to be in abundance.- There is a new variety of cockroach, the silvery-colored Asian. It's attracted to light and if the roach thrives, it promises to put a damper on barbecues.- Clear nail polish dabbed on chigger bites is reputed to smother the insects, which burrow under the skin and can cause infections.- Female mosquitoes bite because they need blood to produce eggs.- Africanized bees have crossed the U.S. border into Texas and are expected to invade Florida in the next decade.

LOW MOOR, Va., -- Killer bees, the domestic honeybee's angry cousins, have invaded Virginia. A renegade swarm of the species, formally known as Africanized bees, was responsible for an attack in southwest Virginia this month that killed a goat and sent four people to the hospital, according to scientists with the federal government and Virginia Tech. Researchers think the bees, more common in Texas and the Southwest, hopped a train or truck before ending up near the town of Low Moor, Va. It was the first time the bees had been found in the state.

Eric Uneberg was walking his dog Sasha beneath the live oaks in the backyard of his Marion County home when he got a strange feeling that he was being watched. He looked around as the hairs on his neck began to stand on end. Nothing to the right or left. But as Uneberg turned to go inside the house, he decided to look up. "I thought it was just some strange animal hanging from the tree because it was big and brown and in the corners all you could see were these four golden-like feet," Uneberg said.

So-called killer bees may have claimed their first human victim in Florida, state officials said Friday in announcing a fatal attack earlier this week in remote Okeechobee County. The victim, whose identity was not released, suffered more than 100 stings Wednesday when he was swarmed while trying to demolish a trailer. Rescuers attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation for 40 minutes and placed the man on life support, but he died of a severe allergic reaction. Early lab results indicate that the insects were Africanized honeybees, the fiercer strain of bee that is displacing familiar European honeybees across the nation.

KISSIMMEE -- Aggressive honeybees have arrived in Osceola County, furthering their advance across Florida and prompting beekeepers to worry that a panicky public will start indiscriminately killing bees. Dubbed "killer bees" after they arrived in the Western Hemisphere 50 years ago, the insects really aren't any deadlier than ordinary honeybees. Their defensive nature, however, makes them quicker to swarm, chase and sting anyone who disturbs their hives. During the early years of Saturday Night Live, the cast spoofed the threat posed by "killer" bees, depicting them as a surly gang of bandits.

Kissimmee is offering an intermediate Junior Fisherman program for ages 6 to 14 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Mondays, April 30 through May 21. The first class will be at the Fortune Road Athletic Complex. Cost: $25. Details: 407-518-2504. Africanized bees Osceola Extension Service will have a free program at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Osceola Heritage Park in the Extension Services Building about Africanized bees, which have recently been found in Osceola County. Biology, control and safety hazards will be discussed.

You may have thought they were only found in B-grade horror movies -- Killer Bees in 1974 and The Swarm in 1978, but "killer bees" are real and they're in Central Florida. More correctly referred to as Africanized honeybees, these extremely defensive and aggressive bees were first found in South Florida in 1992 and have steadily migrated up the peninsula. Within the past year, the number of colonies in the state has increased substantially. The Africanized honeybee is the same species as the European honeybee, the variety used in the United States in agriculture and honey production.

WEST PALM BEACH -- As if hurricanes, roaches, sea lice and insurance bills weren't bad enough, Floridians can add a new menace to their list of worries. Killer bees are here. And they're going to change your life. After decades of hype and cheesy disaster movies, Africanized honeybees have established a foothold in Florida, bringing a hair-trigger temper that makes them a threat to farmworkers, landscapers, meter readers, firefighters and basically everyone who ventures outdoors. In St. Lucie County, thousands of bees nesting below ground near water meters swarmed onto unlucky utility workers late last year, though not fatally.

WEST PALM BEACH -- As if hurricanes, roaches, sea lice and insurance bills weren't bad enough, Floridians can add a new menace to their list of worries. Killer bees are here. And they're going to change your life. After decades of hype and cheesy disaster movies, Africanized honeybees have established a foothold in Florida, bringing a hair-trigger temper that makes them a threat to farmworkers, landscapers, meter readers, firefighters and basically everyone who ventures outdoors. In St. Lucie County, thousands of bees nesting below ground near water meters swarmed onto unlucky utility workers late last year, though not fatally.

So-called killer bees may have claimed their first human victim in Florida, state officials said Friday in announcing a fatal attack earlier this week in remote Okeechobee County. The victim, whose identity was not released, suffered more than 100 stings Wednesday when he was swarmed while trying to demolish a trailer. Rescuers attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation for 40 minutes and placed the man on life support, but he died of a severe allergic reaction. Early lab results indicate that the insects were Africanized honeybees, the fiercer strain of bee that is displacing familiar European honeybees across the nation.

LOW MOOR, Va., -- Killer bees, the domestic honeybee's angry cousins, have invaded Virginia. A renegade swarm of the species, formally known as Africanized bees, was responsible for an attack in southwest Virginia this month that killed a goat and sent four people to the hospital, according to scientists with the federal government and Virginia Tech. Researchers think the bees, more common in Texas and the Southwest, hopped a train or truck before ending up near the town of Low Moor, Va. It was the first time the bees had been found in the state.

Two swarms of dangerous African bees that turned up recently in beehive traps in Jacksonville have been destroyed, the state Agriculture Department said Wednesday.Since 1983, more than a dozen swarms of the so-called killer bees have been found and eradicated in Florida, which so far has kept the imported pest from gaining a foothold in the state.But the recent find was significant in that it was the first made in traps set up at Florida ports and other locations to provide an early warning of the bee's arrival.